


Stories of the Second Self: Beta Behind the Badge

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [98]
Category: Police - Fandom, Urban Fantasy - Fandom, police profiling - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:28:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22609285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: Patrolman Daniel Yi and Senior Patrolman Cole Chaney deal with a street fight between teenagers between the Norwood and St. Bernard neighborhoods. Once onsite, Daniel sees that some kids are literal giants and the others are werewolves. Watching Officer Chaney, Daniel learns the nuances of being a true peace officer.
Series: Alter Idem [98]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: Beta Behind the Badge

"Code Three, Signal Ten," Dispatch called, "Fight in progress. Catalina and Rhode Island Avenue."

"Here we go again, fuckin' upper west side," Officer Chaney grumbled, turning on the lights, and the siren, then accelerated the car.

"Upper west side, lower west, east side," Danial Yi said, shaking his head, "Does it even matter? It's the Wood."

With nearly a full year after the end of federal occupation, that's what Norwood was increasingly called. On the east side it was fights between Norwood's werewolves and the Fae of Silverton, but on the upper west side of the Wood, it was giant kids, mostly from Saint Bernard. That's how increasingly segregated Cincinnati was getting.

Danial Yi didn't live in Norwood, and what with the wings, that was probably for the best. However, Chaney lived in the district, and specifically requested to keep working that beat. Yi, being assigned to Chaney to break into street work, had to go where the senior patrolman went.

This time that brought Daniel to an intersection where no road lines were painted, but plenty of patches appeared in the asphalt. Werewolves in therianthropic form were thrashing, snapping, and tearing at kids who stood anywhere from almost seven feet to around ten. Having responded to a few calls here, Daniel got used to spotting the giant kids as surely as he could spot werewolves other Penta-Caste residents.

The moment Chaney skidded the car to a halt, Yi was out the door with the older patrolman and running to the scene. Both officers pulled their sidearms out but didn't yet take aim.

"Hey, hey!" Chaney yelled with a little growl slipping into his voice. "Everybody stop! Hey, I said knock it off! Back down!"

The last person to settle was one of the shorter giants, who was about to dole out a final pounding on a werewolf still getting up off the street. But, seeing guns drawn stepped back with his hands up. Then, Chaney holstered his weapon, which signaled to Danial that it was safe to put his away.

"Okay, you guys step over there now," Officer Yi called out to the giants, deepening his voice with a practiced hardness he'd seen Chaney use. "Over there. Stand right there and don't move."

Chaney did likewise with the werewolves, adding to his orders. "I want you all switching back this second. And you? Get your clothes on or I'll slap you with an indecent exposure charge," and then stood between the two groups who no longer blocked traffic. "I'm going to point at one person at a time. That's the one I want coming over to talk to me. The rest of you will stay put. Don't test me on that."

"Whoa," Yi called to one of the taller giants. "No one said to move yet. Get back there."

"Let's start with you," Chaney pointed to one of the werewolves. "Yeah, you. Get over here. Alright, let's have it."

"Look man, they starrted it," the kid said in mid-transformation, revealing a redheaded caucasian teen.

"That's a fuckin' lie!" an eight-footer kid blasted back, stabbing a finger any steel worker would envy.

"Zip it, you!" Chaney shouted back. "I won't tell you again! One at a time. That's the rule. I'll get to you when it's your turn."

"Fuckin' howler cop brings a flyboy with him," another griped.

"Just shut up, and don't make it worse," Yi ordered, placing his right hand on the pistol grip of his holstered firearm as a warning.

"Once again," Chaney demanded, "What happened?"

"Those guys," the werewolf kid started to say, looking past Chaney.

"Ta-ta-ta, just stop," Chaney waved at the kid. "Don't go lookin' at them. Look at me. I'm the one you're talkin' to. I'll figure out who's at fault. You're just going to tell me the exact sequence of events."

"So, we're out here just wolfin' around," the kid said with less volume, having referred to the werewolf phrase for horsing around. "And then fuckin' Kong there...."

"Hey, shut it with that crap," Chaney cut him off right there. "I'm showin' you respect, so you're going show some respect. No dissin' while you tell me what took place. Got it?"

"So we're out here, and that guy there," the howler kid rephrased, and pointed, "The second tallest one comes down here and sayin' he don't want us bein' out there. And then calls his friends over."

"That's it?" Chaney asked, doubt in his tone. "Awful quick escalation there."

"I don't know about no exalation," the kid mispronounced, clearly not familiar with the meaning. "Just him and his friends come over and start shit."

"I'm not hearin' details here," Chaney said, "Somethin' else from he turns up, to his friend and you all havin' it out in this quiet neighborhood. I wanna hear about that."

"Pratt kinda bumped into him, and then he shoved back," the werewolf redhead added clarification. "So he gets up and bites at him. He didn't touch him, just snapped his teeth in the air, you know."

"So where do the other giant kids enter the picture?" Chaney inquired.

Yi looked at some of the houses that stood out for the larger doors. They were all one floor, but still rose above those that were two floors and rivaled the three-story homes. They were becoming more frequent, as redevelopment spread, and in the streets solidly within Saint Bernard giant housing became the majority design.

"I dunno," the redhead replied, though Yi could tell from here he wasn't looking right at Chaney. "I know there's only four of them, but that's like eight or ten of us. So, we fought back."

"And that's it." Chaney wasn't asking, and Daniel Yi could tell Chaney was done hearing what the redhead had to say, when he pointed back. "Okay, over there."

"You only know his point of view," the eight foot black kid said down to Yi. "He didn't ask mine."

"Just wait a sec," Yi answered with disguised irritation, raising a hand to him.

Chaney turned around holding his hands up. "Okay, big guy. Now it's your turn. Step over here away from your friends."

"That bump story isn't right, sir," the eight-foot black teen stated flatly.

"Okay, what started it all?" Chaney asked.

The kid turned away. "Whatever, you're just gonna take his side."

"Why do you think that?" Chaney asked.

"C'mon, it's obvious," the eight-foot kid replied, turning to look down at Chaney and waved at him. "You're a how... I mean you and he are werewolves. We know how it is. You all stick together."

"Oh, so you think I'm going to ignore this," Chaney pulled at the badge on his uniform, "and cover his ass 'cause of some pack code, right? Let me explain somethin' to you, young man. I ain't got a pack code. I got an oath to the city of Cincinnati. When you're livin' here you're as much my pack as he is. Yeah, I'm a howler, and I don't care if that's what you wanna call me. But you give it to me straight, son."

"Ahh," the giant teen sighed, and then said, "He said to his buddies, 'Hey, watch me knock this Nephilim fucker over.' Then, he comes over on all fours and throws one of them rump-sweep moves or some shit. I don't mean to be disrespecting you, but it's like what dogs sometimes do when they're play-fighting?"

"Yeah, I've seen it," Chaney affirmed with a nod.

Daniel Yi had also at police K-9 events, where the dogs were brought to demonstrate take-downs and pursuits.

"You see my knee, right?" the giant kid asked, showing the rip in his jeans and a smear of blood. "Him and his friends started laughing, and that's when I shoved him down. I already got one N-word to put up with, sir. I don't need to be hearin' more of that shit from them."

"Which one did it?" Chaney asked, turning to look at the werewolf kids.

"Again, sir, I don't want to be rude," the kid said, scratching his head, "but I couldn't tell them apart when they were turned. God, that's what that sounds like when you say it."

"It's alright," Chaney assured, and waved at them. "Take a guess."

"Well," the giant kid paused. "I suppose you all don't change weight when you turn, right? Conservation of matter?"

"Is that true, Chaney?" Danial called out.

Chaney turned and nodded to Daniel. "Yeah. Why don't you know that?"

Daniel shrugged.

"That kid with the horizontal stripped shirt." the eight-foot teen pointed.

"Okay, you," Chaney also pointed, and then waved his hand to summon. "Mr. Pratt, get over here."

"What man?" the stripped shirt teen named Pratt said, but complied.

"So this 'bump' I'm hearin' about," Chaney emphasized his doubt about one word. "I want the truth. Was it an accident, or did you do it on purpose?"

The kid didn't answer right away, and turned away. Daniel Yi could see that didn't take a werewolf's uncanny ability to read to know the answer.

"C'mon," Chaney bid, putting his hands on his hips. "Why'd you do it?"

"I didn't think it'd start a fuckin' huge fight," Pratt finally came clean.

"But it wasn't an accident, was it?" Chaney surmised, and waved at the bigger kid. "You know, they used to say pick on someone your own size, but this time it's for your own good. Two reasons why that is. One, you can get hit with a weapons possession charge."

"You know that's some racist bullshit," Pratt called out, despite being a white kid in human form.

"Yes it is," Chaney agreed, but refocused on his point. "Doesn't change the fact that it's the law. You don't like it, and I don't like it, but that's how it is. If you get charged as an adult you do real time. You might think you're all bad 'cause you're a werewolf, but we ain't the baddest people in the world. Not even close. That's the second thing. Guys his size could break you in half, especially a year from now when he's almost twice your height and six to eight times as heavy.

"Listening to how he talks," Chaney went on, "I can tell you he had avoid trouble since before anyone knew there were Pentacastes. That's something you all are gonna have to learn. There are people just lickin' their chops to land you in prison."

"Yeah okay," the kid sagged in surrender.

"So here's what I'm gonna do," Chaney announced to everyone while flipping out a notepad. "I'm going to jot down everyone's names, werewolf and giant. I'm not filing charges, but if any of your make us come down here again, I will file it. That's your warning. That includes you other big guys, for getting into it instead of doing the right thing."

Chaney made each one of the kids approach one at a time, and took down their information. After, he put the pad away and sent all the kids off, and started back to the car.

Daniel followed. "I've never seen giants in a gang, but how do you know the other ones weren't in a street pack?"

"That's actually why I started with the ringleader," Chaney said, opening his door but pausing to talk over the roof.

"And you knew which one that was how exactly?" Daniel wondered.

"Ehh, you wouldn't understand," Chaney said, straining his face at how Daniel looked at him.

"Not my people, right?" Daniel said.

"When it comes to this, yeah," Chaney insisted softly. "No one gets it but us. Especially when you're a beta wolf."

"Is that like a breed or something?" Daniel asked, hoping that wasn't offensive.

"State of mind," Chaney said, and then got in.

Daniel climbed into his side and closed the door. "It's gotta be more than that."

"It is, but the more isn't something I can explain," Chaney said, and then thought about it. "Well, like the K-9 units. You know how they look for certain personalities or dispositions in the dogs. They take the ones that seem assertive and protective at the same time. Kind of dogs who, if you were making a baby cry they'd growl at you until you moved away. That's different from some other dogs who just come up and comfort the baby. These ones know you're doing something wrong and make you stop it."

"Okay, you're right," Daniel waved off. " I don't get it."

Grinning, Chaney turned on his radio, "Dispatch, Code Four on Catalina and Rhode Island Avenue."

Chaney turned on the car and drove around a couple blocks to see where the two groups of kids were, before he drove out of the neighborhood. Daniel looked back at the werewolf teens in his side mirror, and didn't see anything unusual in their behavior as they walked away from the scene.


End file.
